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Members of the Tribe love the ceremonies – the pageantry and, more importantly, the values they impart to boys and leaders alike. All of us participated in them as we came into the Tribe and some of us have the good fortune to assist in the ceremonies after becoming Tribal members. Very few actually get to run the ceremonies. Ed Gooseman, Ceremonial Medicine Man Flying Goose, is one of those few.

Ed grew up in the small town of Wellington where he was a member of Pack 317 and Troop 317. He went to camp for the first time and says he “wondered about the Scouts wearing claws, pouches and Foxman sticks.” He remembers the Campsite Host staffer who checked the Troop in talking with the Troop’s Foxmen. “It seemed kind of scary to me,” Ed recalls. Ed looked up to many of the boys in the troop and remembers two of his friends becoming Brave during Ed’s first year.

Mark Schorer (Keeper of the Wampum Silver Iron Horse) was Ed’s first Scoutmaster. Mark was 24 and he was accompanied to camp by an 18-year-old Assistant Scoutmaster during Ed’s first year at camp. The two led that Troop at camp until later in the session when the older Tribesmen began to show up.

Ed served on camp staff for a year and then returned to camp as a camper every year until he turned 18. Ed passed his Eagle board of review, graduated from high school, and turned 18 all within a few hours of each other. Then he immediately became a Scouter, serving as an Assistant Scoutmaster and then, when he turned 21, becoming Scoutmaster of troop 317. He served as Scoutmaster of that troop for 13 of the next 15 years.

But, back to that first year at camp!!

“That first year, I had every intention of going home prior to my first Call Night,” Ed remembers. He says Call Night was on visitors day the session that his troop camped. He really was not having the” time of my life” and hopes that first-year campers these days do. He was a little home sick and some of the older boys weren’t helping him feel any better.

Then, there was a young staff kid who saw Ed around the phone at the trading post waiting to call home after visitors day was over. That staffer - Wayne Stewart - talked to Ed and told him about the excitement of Call Night and that Ed should stay at camp to watch it. Ed says, “He was that staff guy that made a difference in my Scouting life. I remember during Call Night that he came and checked on me to see if I was having a good time. For the next few years as a camper I made a point to seek him out every year….” Ed eventually lost touch with Wayne until the 75th anniversary Mic-O-Say celebration, when they renewed acquaintances. Now the two remain very good friends.

Ed is glad he stayed for Call Night. He relates, “Well, I can tell you that I remember that first Call Night like it was yesterday. I remember the runners and the pomp and circumstance that goes along with Call Night. I remember listening to the speeches and being wide-eyed about what was going on. I believe that that night I learned what I need to do to become a Tribesman and did not look back. However, unlike most Scouts sitting in the stands, I never had the dream of being a Runner. I always wanted to be the guy out in the middle running the show.”

Ed returned to camp as a staff member in 2002, and has served on staff every year since then. Ed had many responsibilities over the years on Call Night, and he really enjoyed being a part of that. Ed recalls one evening when he and Jared Pearce (Sagamore Swift Running Bird) were standing outside the council ring. They commented about wanting to do more and then realizing the younger tribesmen behind them were wanting to do what they were doing.

Jared Pearce and Ed spent many hours at one of their favorite places - the porch of staff cabin two in Lone Star. They solved some of the world’s problems, but all of the tribe’s problems! On one occasion the talk became very solemn. Jared and Ed were discussing Mic-O-Say memorial services.

Ed relates the conversation, “We decided that night that when the time came the one of us who lived longer would have to do the other’s memorial service - specifically the song of Mic-O-Say.” Ed was several years older than Jared and was sure Jared would be performing the duty first. It wasn’t meant to be, as Jared had an untimely death just a few years later. Ed says, “I found myself in Oklahoma and then Olathe preforming that service. I’ll tell you that was one of the most difficult times in my life.”

Ed’s desire to run the ceremonies came to fruition, of course, as Ed became a Mic-O-Say Advisor in 2010 and was named Ceremonial Medicine Man for the Summer of 2016. From watching the ceremonies to running them…

But, back to Brave!!

Ed remembers the trail to Brave being a long and difficult to get through. As he works with Called Braves now he spends a great deal of time reflecting on what the process meant to him and what he can do to aid the young men in the process. He now appreciates being a part of something that was much bigger than any individual.

Ed remembers the Brave Ceremony. He recalls how Dick Chandler (Medicine Man Little Falling Branch), resplendent in beadwork from head to toe - immediately caught his eye. Ed remembers the way Chandler spoke softly but the tribesmen were hanging on every word he said.

Many of the leaders in Ed’s troop told him how proud his dad would have been of Ed for going through the program. Ed’s father – Warrior Big Flying Goose - had passed away the October before he was called into the tribe.

From one generation to the next…

Some of people that have mentored Ed over the years are his first Scoutmaster, Mark Schorer, Scoutmaster Tom Hodson, Assistant Scoutmaster Scott Westerman, Camp staffers Dick Chandler, Louis Chandler, Whitey Koogler, Nick Nichol, Dave Woodman, David Allen, Tom Volek, Grant Dealy, Jared Pearce, Jim Hayes, Jim Todd, Scott Smith, Wayne Stewart, and Lester Ham. Ed says there are probably many more he couldn’t recall of the top of his head, and apologizes for those left off the list.

His time in the Tribe led Ed to his vocation. Ed says, “It has influenced my career greatly. After a couple of different careers I chose to become a (special education) teacher. I have always enjoyed working with youth.”

Ed talks about what it means to pass the values of Mic-O-Say along to the next generation. “Having had the opportunity for the last six years to be a Mic-O-Say advisor, my wife Christina feels as if she can’t take me anywhere. Everywhere we go some one knows me. I often have someone whispering and or pointing, then the older Scouts that I (talk with) have usually been in one of my Brave or Warrior groups. (They) will just come up and start talking. I absolutely love it. Having the relationship with the next generation that is going to run our Tribe, Troops, and country means a great deal to me.”

The spirit of Ed Gooseman has risen from watching the ceremonies of Mic-O-Say to running them. Today his spirit has great influence on and off his beloved reservation.

Tom Carter has had an interesting life wherein he learned life lessons from several “chiefs.” Tom is known to Tribal Members as Sagamore Little Swift Charging Ram, and one of his earliest camp memories was dealing with an unknown Chief following his first Call Night at Bartle.

Tom relates that his strongest and most vivid memory before becoming a Tribesman was after his first call night as a first-year camper at Bartle. The ceremony had closed and he was standing near the fire when he noticed he had broken the leather thong of his camping totems from the troop’s monthly campouts. He was looking on the ground for them when he felt a presence over him. He was most surprised to see a Chieftain in all of his tribal attire asking Tom what happened. Tom explained what happened and that Chieftain stayed there helping him look for those little plastic discs. All the hundreds of campers in that council ring and it seemed to Tom that Chieftain was just there to help him. Tom says, “That left a lasting impression on me and how I really first saw Mic-O-Say.”

Sam Valenti, Joe La Bella and Tom Carter

Later in life, Tom worked doing advance work for eight years for another “chief,” President George W. Bush, the 43rd “Commander-in-Chief” of the United States.

But let’s go back to the beginning of Tom’s MOS experience…

Tom was in Troop 240 from Harrisonville, which he says is one of the older troops in the Council. He says he was “very fortunate to be in a troop with a great bunch of guys and more importantly a wonderful bunch of leaders and fathers.” Troop 240 had monthly camp outs, two big float trips a year plus camp at Bartle. Tom also notes the Troop had its own Drum & Bugle Corp and participated in many parades and Council events in Kansas City.

Tom notes the Troop 240 leaders became Honorary Warriors as they were helping their sons, Tom and his father included. Tom notes an important aspect all Tribal Members should remember with respect to the young Scouts. “I saw how much the Tribe meant to them and how serious they took it. That had a direct influence on all of us. Everyone considered it a great honor to be a Tribesman.”

Tom vividly remembers Call Night of his first summer at camp.

“My reaction to Call Night was the sound, speed & quiet. The sound of the drums that seemed to vibrate within me. The speed of the runners bringing the Called Braves to the Tribal Council. The strongest reaction I felt was to the quiet when the Tribal Council member spoke to the campers who would not hear their names called.” Tom notes “the silence besides the crackling fire, and sounds of the woods when he wasn’t speaking had an energy that still affects me every time.”

And Tom remembers what it felt like to be called as a Brave. “The thing that struck me most about being a Brave was two things. I genuinely felt that I was being tested. I did not want to let anyone down including myself. I respected everything so much that I saw in the Tribe and wanted to be a part of that. It was also the most serious thinking I had done on important issues in my life.”

Like many Tribesmen, Tom spent summers on the camp staff. He recalls the men who influenced him most. “Pappy Grube, Don Ross, Bill Lewis just to name a few (who) had an enormous influence on me. I saw how they conducted themselves as Tribesmen and men…. Through them and my own experiences I saw how you could genuinely have a lifelong impact on a young Scout in a single session. Tom says the examples of those men made him realize what a great opportunity, influence, and responsibility one person could have.

Like most Tribesmen, Tom eventually had to “get on” with his life and his career. He credits his successful transition from Scouting to his career to the life lessons learned in scouts and Mic-O-Say. After graduate school he became involved in government and politics, eventually landing as assistant Secretary of State to now-Senator Roy Blunt. Tom says his MOS values were with him every step of the way. He chartered a troop in Jefferson City that camps at Bartle and Sen. Blunt and his son Andy are both members of the Tribe. Sen. Blunt is a Sachem.

Tom’s “Pappy Mounts” reside in a wooden case made by his father, and during his time in Jefferson City the case hung on the wall in his office in the Capitol. Tom relates a particularly memorable story. One day a select group of Scouts from around the state were at the Capitol visiting the Governor and other elected officials. They stopped by Secretary Blunt’s office, and one young man introduced himself as a Tribesman. Tom took him into his office and showed him his claws. That young Tribesman was Aaron Guest, now a Medicine Man and one of Tom’s better friends. Tom notes the reach of the Tribe is, indeed, amazing.

Tom’s stint with Sen. Blunt led him to an assignment in the George W. Bush administration doing advance work for the President for eight years. Tom now does government consulting. He says, “The skills and values I learned in Scouts and in Mic-O-Say are played out daily in my life.”

Tom says the influence Mic-O-Say has had on his life can’t be measured. He says his reflections from going through the Brave Ceremony formed the character of his life. Those reflections made him who he is, with the support of his family. He says Mic-O-Say gave him values, a sense of purpose and instilled in him the importance of responsibility.

Tom calls it a privilege and responsibility to continue to grow and be a positive influence on others. He mentors many young men and says the values with which he mentors came from Scouts and the Tribe. He says it matters not if those he mentors are in Scouting or not.

Mic-O-Say and scouting showed Tom there are “no small things.” He says, “You never know what matters, or what will be a point of positive influence to young men, or how you treat and interact with anyone.” Tom says it all goes back to “friendship and warmth” in your heart.

Tom Carter learned the lessons of leadership, friendship and warmth from many chiefs – inside and outside of Mic-O-Say - and he continues to pass those lessons on today.